Exodus
by Sarma
Summary: The SGC is attacked by an unknown force. Is someone or something trying to get in contact with the Tau'ri and how is SG1 involved? Chapter Three up now.
1. Chapter 1

Part One: Noise

It was lunch hour and the commissary was abuzz with activity. Air Force men and women crowded the small dining area, lining up by the counter to order their meals or milling around tables talking about everything from their latest mission to the price of petrol.

The four members of SG-1 were seated together at a table in the corner, Carter and Jonas involved deep in discussion while Teal'c observed them and O'Neill concentrated on his food. Distracted by Jonas' enthusiasm, Carter placed her spoon inside her half eaten bowl of jelly and rested her elbows on the edge of the table to listen more intently. Their new alien friend had been watching the discovery channel, again.

'What I'm curious to know, Major Carter, is how these birds are able to navigate a direct course from a location 24,000 miles away to the exact same place they nested in the year before.' Jonas dipped a piece of broccoli into his ice cream and looked at her expectantly before putting the food into his mouth and chewing noisily.

Carter scrunched up her nose and frowned in disgust, pushing her bowl further away. Jonas certainly had a way with food, she thought, appalled and amused at the same time. 'Ornithologists have been studying bird migration for decades, Jonas,' she responded, trying not to watch (or listen) to him eating. 'And they still haven't discovered the answers.'

O'Neill, sitting directly opposite Carter, seemed oblivious to their conversation. He polished off the last square of red jelly from his second serving, shoved the bowl aside and stared eagerly across the table at Carter's discarded dish.

Meanwhile, she continued with her explanation. 'Some of them believe that since most birds are at flight during the night, they use the stars to navigate.'

Jonas paused to contemplate her comment, an ice cream covered broccoli stem suspended in his hand between the plate and his mouth.

'Uh… guys,' O'Neill studied the food in Jonas' hand quizzically and then took the opportunity to interrupt. 'I know this is all important, save the universe kinda stuff, but… are you gonna eat that Carter?' He pointed with his fork towards her leftovers.

The three of them, slightly surprised by the Colonel's interruption, eyed him as if they hadn't even known he was there. Carter was the first to respond, and, unable to maintain a straight face, she gently pushed the bowl towards her CO, a soft smile creeping up her cheeks. 'Go ahead sir,' she replied.

'Thank you,' the Colonel beamed, stabbing his fork into the bowl and looking from Carter to Jonas and back again. 'That's all. Carry on,' he waved his hand for them to continue.

Carter grinned and turned back to Jonas as O'Neill shovelled a blubbery square into his mouth.

Just as the Kelownan was about to fire off another question, the unscheduled off-world activation siren blared throughout the commissary, red lights flashing over the faces of USAF staff as they chowed down. Before any of them could even react to the alarm, an extremely shrill, penetrating scream, like nothing they'd ever heard before, reverberated throughout the room. The four of them covered their ears desperately and grimaced in agony, O'Neill's bowl of jelly shattering into tiny pieces in front of him as the sound got higher and higher and eventually died. All around them, people coiled in pain, glass littering the floor and tables.

Seconds later, Carter turned to the Colonel, who was gently massaging his ears and working his jaw in circles as he glared indignantly at what was left of his dessert.

'Sir?' she managed to say, pain charging up her temples to her skull. But O'Neill was already on his feet and heading, out of kilter, towards the control room, rubbing the side of his forehead with the palm of his hand. Teal'c followed, almost knocking over their table as he charged to his feet and out the door. After quickly assessing the damage around them, Jonas and Carter pursued them, confused and uncertain as to what the hell had just happened.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I'm just borrowing SG1 and their world, not for profit.

Summary: This is a team action/adventure, hopefully with humour and possibly some SJ UST.

Rating: T (There won't be anything explicit, maybe a little violence and some cussing.)

Part Two: Aftermath

General Hammond reluctantly released his hands from his ears and surveyed the mess in the control room, his head still ringing with the disturbing noise that had just screamed through the Stargate. Sergeant Harriman was sitting stiff in his seat, staring in stunned silence at the shattered glass around him and the wide, open frame where the window pane looking down into the gate room once was. Below them, in the gate room, one airman was down and the others were either bent over in agony or gazing at each other with blank expressions of shock, a couple of them bleeding from the ear.

Every direction he turned, Hammond saw the incomprehensible effects of the sound. He needed to know the full extent of the situation, but by god, his head was hurting. Taking in a deep breath and trying to ignore the pain, Hammond stepped up to the main control board and placed a hand on Harriman's shoulder. Slowly but surely, soft background noises began to filter in. Suddenly, it occurred to him that the wormhole had disengaged.

'Sergeant, tell me that SG-13 made it home before the gate de-activated.' Hammond could barely make out the sound of his own voice.

It took Harriman a second to register, but when he finally turned and looked up to the General his expression was grave. 'Negative, sir,' he replied.

Hammond's hearing was gradually coming back to him, but his head still ached and probably would for a long time. However, it was all in a day's work and he had learned to expect the unexpected, although he had to admit, even this was a little out of the ordinary. What on earth was that noise and where the hell were his people? Could he risk dialling P3X-981 to find out what had happened to them?

'I want a full damage assessment. And get a recording of that sound,' he commanded, moving towards the red phone on the wall.

Just as Hammond hung up the receiver after requesting the assistance of a medical team, Colonel O'Neill entered the control room; his eyes narrow under a furrowed forehead and scrunched eyebrows. Teal'c, Major Carter and Jonas Quinn followed immediately. The latter two stopped on entering, examining the change in their surroundings as if they had just gated onto an alien planet. O'Neill, however, strode right up to the empty window pane and looked down at the Stargate, perched innocently in its usual position. That thing was the bane of his existence.

'How's your head, Walter?' he muttered, patting the Sergeant lightly on the shoulder before turning to the General. Luckily for Harriman, the bullet-proof window had shattered, not blown. If the opposite were true he would be holed up in the infirmary with much more than just a migraine the size of Minnesota.

Carter and Jonas were filling Hammond in on what they had discovered on their way to the control room. The entire base had been compromised. The sound had penetrated the mountain from top to bottom, the intensity decreasing in distance from the Stargate.

'What was it sir?' Carter asked, moving towards the control board.

'You tell me, Major,' Hammond stepped up to stand beside her. 'A few minutes ago we received an incoming wormhole from P3X-981 with SG-13's IDC.'

'I thought they weren't supposed to report for another two hours, sir' Carter had been looking forward to SG-13's full assessment of the planet. Initial mineral readings had picked up traces of Naquadah in the soil.

'They weren't,' Hammond replied.

O'Neill was peering down into the gateroom. 'So… where are they sir?'

'Colonel?'

'You said you received SG-13's IDC. So where are they?'

'They didn't make it through the gate, Jack. The wormhole shut down right after the noise came through.'

'Carter?' O'Neill turned to his 2IC. 'Tell me they're not trapped in that thing.'

Carter placed her hands on her hips, took a deep breath and looked from the Stargate, to the Colonel to General Hammond. 'It's more likely they're trapped on P3X-981, sir. That said, we don't know what prompted them to report two hours early, they could be in any kind of danger…'

'Permission to take a rescue team to 981, sir?' Jack interrupted, not wanting to hear another word.

'In good time, Colonel,' Hammond decreed. 'Right now we need to assess the situation thoroughly, before even dialling the gate and attempting communication,' Hammond turned his eyes to Carter. 'Major, is it likely that sound will return if we open a wormhole from our end and try to contact Dixon and his crew?'

'As far as we can tell sir, sound, like matter, only travels one way through a wormhole, but it all depends on what the sound is and where it's coming from. Of course, as you know, anything's possible with the Stargate,' Carter massaged her own temples.

'Of course,' O'Neill parroted dryly.

'There is a chance that the noise could have been a distorted radio transmission from SG-13,' Carter added. 'If I can get a reading of the sound waves, I can de-fragment the frequencies and…'

'As soon as you've all been confirmed fit for duty by Dr Frasier, you have my authority to do whatever it takes, Major, to figure out what the hell just happened and report back to me ASAP.'

'What about SG-13?' O'Neill was looking down at the gate again; his eyes squinted in concentration and an effort to ignore the pain shooting through his skull.

'Once I've received a full report from Siler and the technicians, and assuming all is well, we'll dial the gate and try to communicate. However, until you and your team are cleared by the Doctor, Colonel, I do not want to see any of you in this control room. Understood?'

Carter dipped her head in agreement, and to avoid the disgruntled look in O'Neill's eyes. He couldn't stand having teams stranded helpless off world when he was stuck in the infirmary with Doc Fraiser's penlight assaulting his pupils. Not that Hammond enjoyed giving such orders. It was simply common sense to get them cleared first, rather than suffering the consequences later, when one of them became ineffective due to an injury. O'Neill knew this, but grunted with disapproval anyway. He was good at letting the world know when he was _not_ a happy camper.

AN: Hey guys, sorry it's been so long since I've updated. I have gone over and over this story trying to get it right, but I'm still a little unsure as to where I'm headed. However I got to the point where I thought – just post it – for cryin' out loud!

Have redone itsy bitsy bits of this chapter and added number three. Hope it all still fits. If anything doesn't make sense please let me know. I'm very pedantic about plot.

Other than that… enjoy. Hopefully I will work on this more now that (I think) I have things a little more under control. Funny how a story can get away on you… I don't even think about logic when I write – I just write. Cheers.


	3. Chapter 3

Part Three: Assessment

Ten minutes later, after they had been declared fit for duty, SG-1 gathered in the briefing room, where Fraiser was giving General Hammond her full assessment of the situation.

'The majority of cases are severe migraines and mild temporary hearing loss, sir, although two of the men who were in the gate room have ruptured ear drums, and there was one incident of unconsciousness.'

'How are you managing the situation Doctor?'

'It's proving quite difficult, sir. Ideally, half the base should be sent home for the rest of the day, if not the week, but that's just not practical, so…'

'So?' O'Neill inquired, trying to speed things up a little. He wanted to forget the formalities and start organising a rescue mission for Dixon and his team.

'We're doling out painkillers, rotating staff and crossing our fingers. There's not much else we can do sir.'

'What about the more critical patients?' Hammond asked.

'I'm transferring them to the Academy Hospital in Colorado Springs. I want to get them assessed by a specialist, just to be safe.'

Hammond nodded. 'Whatever you say, Doctor.'

Still standing beside the General, struggling to keep his impatience at bay, O'Neill waited until he was sure Fraiser was finished before tilting his head back and looking at his CO expectantly, through lowered eyelids. 'So, how 'bout that rescue team, sir?'

After the full damage of the sound was evaluated, Hammond had ordered the gate dialled to P3X-981. Thankfully, no piercing sound penetrated the mountain as the last chevron locked into place and the now dishevelled gate room flushed blue. However, after several attempts, SG-13 could not be reached.

'Jack,' Hammond started, pausing for a moment to close his eyes and sigh. His head was throbbing. 'I understand your sentiments Jack. However, at this stage, I cannot risk sending another team through to aide Major Dixon and his team. We know nothing of what could be waiting on the other side, or, if they are even in danger at all.'

'Then send a MALP, a UAV, R2D2, anything!' O'Neill threw his hands in the air, clearly exasperated by the situation. 'We have to do something.'

Hammond drew his shoulders back and looked as sternly as he could at his 2IC. 'There's a MALP being prepped as we speak, Colonel. Now, if you're considering taking command of a rescue mission, if and when I authorise it, I suggest you get some rest. In fact, I'm ordering you to do so.'

Behind them, Carter yabbered aloud to herself, oblivious to the others in the room as she worked on her laptop.

'Major?' O'Neill questioned, walking up behind her and leaning in so he could look over her shoulder. 'Do you have something you'd like to share?'

Carter quickly spun in her chair to speak to Hammond, and, unaware of how close the Colonel's face was, had to jerk her neck back in surprise and ogle him for a second as she tried to figure out what he was doing. In response, O'Neill cleared his throat and straightened his back, stepping away from Carter's chair.

'As far as I can tell, General,' she replied slowly, lifting her face to Hammond, but never quite taking her eyes off O'Neill's, 'this is not a distorted radio transmission like the kind we received from SG-10 when they were trapped on P3W-451,' she stood up.

'So… no big, honkin', matter-sucking, black hole then?' O'Neill raised his eyebrows.

Carter paused, a flash of a smile threatening to ruin her perfectly grave expression. 'No sir. I mean, it's unlikely. These wavelengths are of an incredibly high frequency and by all accounts are not affected by the kind of time dilation commonly associated with gravitational pull. I've tried speeding the recording up, and slowing it down in millimicron increments. Neither effect has produced a translatable signal.'

'If it's not a radio transmission, Major, what in God's name is it?' Hammond asked.

'I don't know sir.'

'You don't know?' O'Neill looked incredulous. 'Now we're really in trouble.'

Carter opened her mouth to speak and closed it again, shaking her head and looking down at the floor in an attempt to maintain her composure.

At the other end of the table, Jonas placed his treasured travel mug down, lifted one of the many sheets of paper in front of him with his little finger and resumed the conversation, speaking to nobody in particular. 'Maybe it's some other method of communication. Perhaps a metered code, like the kind you used on Earth in the past, before your current technology.'

'Morse code?' General Hammond looked dubiously at Carter. 'Could it be a distorted Morse code message Major?'

Carter placed her hands behind the small of her back and took in a sharp breath. 'I thought of that sir. It doesn't fit. But I think Jonas is onto something – whoever or whatever sent this, if it was in fact sent on purpose, could be trying to make contact. I'd like to work on finding some sort of pattern, or code, within the transmission if I can, sir.'

'Fine. I want updates on the hour. Jonas, you're to assist Major Carter on this one.'

Just as Carter and Jonas were about to leave, they were interrupted by the unscheduled off-world activation siren. The five of them rushed down the stairs to the control room.

'Incoming wormhole, sir,' Harriman reported.

'Close the iris,' the General ordered.

'We're receiving an IDC.'

The four members of SG-1 stepped up to the empty frame that looked out at the Gate.

'It's SG-13,' Carter announced, shifting her gaze from the computer to the General. There was a brief pause. 'Sir, I'm not even sure, if the sound were to return, that the waves would be blocked by the iris… and if that really is SG-13, we should…'

'Open the iris,' Hammond had understood.

'Déjà vu,' O'Neill added sarcastically, pressing his ears shut with his two index fingers. 'Anybody got a set of ear muffs?'

In front of them the metal shield twirled open to reveal the shimmering blue of the wormhole.

* * *

A/N: Hope you like Part Three. As said, hopefully I will update a lot sooner than last time. However, RL is kinda crazy at the mo, so bear with me. Reviews always welcome. And believe me, they will inspire me to write quicker:)

Thanks all, cheers!


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